The week in review: Wednesday at quitting time, worried about the presidential motorcade snarling traffic, I called home to tell my 15-year-old: "There are rats in the fridge, they just have to go in oven. Can you do that? And would you mix up the blood that goes on them? Thanks!"

"Rats Baked in Blood"

As I hung up, a co-worker offered to call the state's children's services department on behalf of my kids.

Hold the phone, Wally; it's just individual meatloaves in tomato sauce, but the people at one of Disney's online sites upped the creepiness factor for Halloween. Kaboose.com offers 30 spooky recipes for your pre-trick-or-treating dinner or Halloween party. I offered to try out "Rats Baked in Blood" and report back to my colleagues over in FOODday.

Rats are easy to make, although next time I would skip the rice and sub bread crumbs or oatmeal as a binder. The rice grains swelled and poked out during cooking, giving my rats a regrettable hint of porcupine. But we had plenty of fun talking about dinner, with the kids asking, "Did I eat enough of my rat?" and, "Any more rats in the kitchen? How about blood?"

Allow about five minutes to put faces on before serving. I felt a bit silly poking spaghetti bits, carrot half-rounds and bits of black olive on the rats as the 15-year-old watched in amusement. She finally said, "Lotta work, huh?" I gathered what little dignity I had left and said, "Investigative journalism always is, honey," and swept into the dining room with my plate of rodents.

Helen JungThe week in review: Thank God for freezers. It's pretty much the only reason my family has had anything to eat for dinner over the past few weeks, thanks to some very long work days for both me and my husband. I've become militant about freezing any leftovers that I know we won't finish in the two days after I make them, so we had an ample stockpile -- pork loin with a sage-lemon vinaigrette as well as burritos with black beans and mozzarella.

That said: I did manage to operate more than the microwave this week. I had some serious comfort food cravings and made this spectacular tuna noodle casserole. (You can take the girl out of Ohio but not Ohio out of the girl.) The 2-year-old ate it without requiring bribes or special airplane noises. Note: The recipe I think would be fine as is, but I added a couple of stalks of celery, doubled the tuna and substituted panko bread crumbs.

Amy Wang

The week in review: If my 6-year-old was ever in charge of meal planning, his list would look something like this: "Chicken. Chicken. Chicken. Chicken. Repeat until world runs out of chicken." We ate a lot of chicken this week.

Chicken meatballs: I was intrigued by a recent Mark Bittman article that suggested using the food processor to grind meat. The recipe uses chicken thighs, my son's favorite part of the chicken, so I gave it a whirl. Though the meatballs came out quite onion-y - I'd use less onion next time - he pronounced them "great." And they ended up being a lifesaver when I got home late one night: I had made the meatballs in advance, so I just pulled them out of the freezer and simmered them in sauce from a jar while the pasta cooked.

Chicken fricassee: Next up on the "try this recipe" list was one from the November 2010 Cook's Illustrated for Quick Chicken Fricassee that promised a rich mushroom sauce over chicken breasts. My kids love mushrooms, so I tried it. It was very tasty - but I'd made the dish in the morning, which meant reheating it that evening. In my haste to get dinner on the table, I zapped the chicken breasts in the microwave. Don't do that. They came out tough and chewy. The 3-year-old was so turned off he asked if he could spit out the big bite of chicken he'd just taken. The next day I pinged a food editor friend, who recommended reheating the meat either on the stovetop in a skillet, in a toaster oven or in the regular oven under foil. Now we all know.

Noelle Crombie

The week in review: Boy, you ladies cook to impress! Pork loin from Helen, chicken meatballs from Amy. Sadly, my meals this week were a sort of retread, though tasty retreads at that. I went with pesto with toasted walnuts over pasta one night, this Mark Bittman potato-black bean casserole that’s become a weeknight staple (I dress it up with avocado, green olives, salsa, and a dollop of Greek yogurt, which tastes a lot like sour cream), and, another family fave, egg salad sandwiches, courtesy of this delish Foodday recipe.

Surprise hit: Chickpeas. I cooked up a large batch of chickpeas Wednesday to use in some couscous fritters I dreamed up using whatever I had in my fridge. (Finely chopped arugula from our farm share, minced garlic, almost pureed chickpeas, cooked couscous, a couple eggs and a dash of sea salt. Fry ‘em up in a cast iron skillet. Dinner is served.)

I had a cup or two of cooked chickpeas leftover and offered a couple to my daughters as a snack. To my surprise, my 4-year-old went back for more. (The 2-year-old handed hers back to me.) “Can I take these for lunch?” my older daughter asked. What’s that? You say you want chickpeas for lunch? So today she’s taking a cup of chickpeas in her lunch, along with some cut up cheese and grapes.

And speaking of chicken: Amy's range when it comes to making chicken always manages to dazzle. I don't do chicken much -- except for the occasional chicken soup or baked chicken -- but friends had us over for dinner last weekend and wowed us with this simple and homey dish. It was the ultimate in comfort food and so good that I have a feeling I'll be making it again soon.

Kjerstin Gabrielson

Week in review: I'm with you on the love of leftovers and the beauty of freezer food! This week, I put a couple of new recipes to the test and had meals to spare.

Favorite recipe: This potato basil frittata was a hit with my family, and a nice option for a busy weeknight at home. The hands-off time in the oven gave my kids and me time to study for Passport Club, spelling and more. With eight hearty servings, the leftovers turned into several lunches.Worth noting: I made Trader Joe's Bean soup this week, with tons of carrots, celery and bell pepper. The soup takes a bit of time and planning ahead, but this is another dish that can be fixed early in the afternoon to simmer away while the kids and I see to other household and school chores. Plus, I froze leftovers that will feed the family at least twice more. Love that.